Empowering incarcerated youth to write new chapters in their lives.
By VB
I came from nothing
or so they claim.
But something from nothing
is outrageous.
You need
at least
a lil’ bit
to make
anything.
I’m here to stay,
forever I’ll remain
a Free Mind,
Open Heart.
My actions
you won’t dictate.
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January 27, 2021, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Read and respond to poetry by incarcerated writers! Registration is required; click here to RSVP.
Free Minds uses books, creative writing, and peer support to awaken incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youths and adults to their own potential. Through creative expression, job readiness training, and violence prevention outreach, these poets achieve their education and career goals, and become powerful voices for change in the community.
Winner of the 2015 Aspen Ideas Award from the Aspen Institute, the Justice Potter Stewart Award from the Council for Court Excellence, and the Library of Congress Best Practices in Literacy Award.
United Way of the National Capital Area (UWNCA) #9633
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) # 75998
1816 12th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
I enjoyed this immensely and it reminded me of a quote an incarcerated individual once told me. While volunteering in prison one day, someone told me, “Prison doesn’t contain how far I can reach.” No matter the sentence, prison absolutely doesn’t contain how far you can reach. Keep on growing, keep on expanding your mind, and please keep on writing.
Thank you for writing this simply yet eloquently. I shall hang it on a wall, to keep myself grounded. Please keep on creating, you made a tiny difference in my day.
The poem is nice! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
This is awesome! We are all something and there is immense power in declaring our worth. Happy New Year.
“something from nothing is outrageous”– I love this line. It speaks of two things: you literally can’t grow something from nothing (a crazy impossibility) and it makes me (the reader) wonder what wonderfully outrageous (not crazy but courageous) person you will become.
I think that this is a really powerful piece with a very strong structure. Especially with the first four lines, the line breaks add so much to the message. In general, the piece has great shape and rhythm. I like how you start strong and then the shape of the poem goes narrow in the middle before coming out on the lines “I’m here to stay” “forever I’ll remain” and “you won’t dictate.” I also think that it is powerful that the two longest lines end in “nothing,” looking purely at the structure of the poem, they stand out and above the other words on the page, whether or not it was intended, seem to illustrate the point that nothing can be something.
The point you made here really resonated with me. Everyone comes from somewhere and I like how you emphasize how you are here to stay.
AMAZING! You put a new spin on an old phrase, showing how destructive it can be to forget your past and all the love and work in your life. I love the line “Free Mind, Open Heart,” showing that no matter where your body is, you still control your own thoughts and feelings. When you used passive voice in the last line, you catch the reader by surprise (in a great way). Stay strong, you’re doing great!
This is really expressive and I love how you reference Free Minds in your poem as both a call out to the organization and a representation of the idea of widening one’s horizons
The words have a really great rhythm to them. The way they flow is really nice.
This is such a beautiful sentiment that no one is nothing.I love the idea that you have to be just a little bit of something.
Thank you for sharing this with us…….powerful messages here…….